Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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TAPE CASSETTE AND AUTOMATIC ATTACHING
APPARATUS FOR HEAT-FUSIBLE TAPE PIECES -
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BACKGROUND OF THE INV~h~1ON
1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to a tape cassette for
use in a machine for successively attaching reinforcing
tape pieces closely to the respective space portions
of slide fastener 6hain, a machine for automatlcally
attaching markers, in the form of tape pieces, to a
running strip at predetermined distances, a surface ; -
fastener manufacturing machine, a ribbon tape process~
ing machine, etc., and also to an automatic heat-
fusible tape piece attaching apparatus using the tape
cassette. More particularly the invention relates to a
tape cassette with which the tape can be ~n~e~ in a
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simple manner to cope with flexible manufacturing and
also to an automatic heat-fusible tape piece attaching
apparatus using such tape cassette. ~
2. Description of the Related Art: ~ -
This type of conventional automatic heat-fusible
tape piece attaching apparatus is disclosed in, for ! -
example, J~p~n~ce Patent Publications Nos. SHO 62
23693, 63-34725 and 63-40085. In each of these conven~
tional apparatuses, a thermoplastic tape holder is ~ '
fixed: for instance, if the fastener tapes of a slide
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fastener chain are to be exchanged with those of dif-
ferent color, the reinforcing thermoplastic tapes also
have to be exchanged with those of the same color as
that of the fastener tapes.
As fashion of clothing, bags, sacks and other
daily goods is changing drastically and into a great
variety in recent years, slide fasteners to be used
for these products require increasingly many colors
and sizes and a very limited quantity of products for
each kind.
However, in the automatic heat-fusible tape
piece attaching apparatuses of the above-mentioned
publications or any other conventional apparatuses of
this type, a supply part for the thermoplastic tape is
fixed so that exchange of tape cannot take place until
the apparatus is stopped, thus causing a very low op-
erating rate. To this end, in order to reduce the num~
ber of times of exchanging the tape, it has been a
c~ r--n practice to take lot organizing work at the mo~
ment.
SUMMARY OF THE lNvh~llON ~ ~-
It is therefore an object of this invention to
provide a tape cassette which eliminates~eYçhAnqe work -~
in lot and enables tape ~Yc~Anqe at any time without ~ -
stopping the apparatus, and also to an automatic heat-
fusible tape piece attaching apparatus using such tape
cassette.
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In order to accomplish the above object, accord-
ing to one aspect of the invention, there is provided
a tape cassette equipped with a reel support part
rotatably supporting a tape reel, and a tape guide
part defining a tape guide path extending from the
reel support part in a direction of drawing a tape,
wherein the tape guide part has pressure rollers sec-
tioning a part of the tape guide path, and a window
through which part of the pressure rollers is exposed
to the outside from the tape guide part.
As a typical embodiment, the reel support part
is arranged on upper and lower sides of the tape guide
path, the tape guide part having a square pillar, the ~ -
tape guide path being divided into upper and lower
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steps within the tape guide part, the tape guide path
being sectioned by the pressure rollers which are -
rotatably mounted at upstream and downstream posi~
tions, respectively, in the tape guide part. Further,
the tape guide part further includes an operation
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lever inserted through the tape guide path, and a
lock member operable, in response to the actuation of ~ ~-
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the operation lever, to project into and retract from
the tape guide path for engagement with and disengag!e~
ment from a tape cassette mount.
According to another aspect of the invention, -~
there is provided an apparatus for automatically at~
taching heat-fusible tape pieces successively onto a '~
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surface of a continuous strip at predetermined dis-
tances while the strip is being intermittently con-
veyed, the apparatus comprising: a tape cassette
equipped with a reel support part rotatably supporting
a tape reel, and a tape guide part defining a tape
guide path extending from the reel support part in a
direction of drawing a tape; a tape cassette support
base situated alongside of a traveling path of the
strip and able to detachably support a plurality of
the tape cassettes at predetermined distances alon~ the
traveling path, the tape cassette support base being ;
movable along the traveling path for positioning; and
a tape piece fusing means situated on the traveling
path of the strip at a predeteL i ne~ position within a
range of movement of the tape cassette support base.
Specifically, the tape guide part has pressure
rollers sectioning a part of the tape guide path, and ~ -
a window through which part of the pressure rollers is
exposed to the outside from the tape guide part, there
being situated drive rollers movable to come into and
out of engagement with the respective exposed surfaces
of the pressure rollers. Further, gripping means is
situated in an extension line passing through the tape
cassette support base and the tape piece fusing means
for gripping a tape end of the tape cassette. And cut-
ting means is situated between the tape cassette sup-
port base and the tape piece fusing means for cutting
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a predetermined length of tape piece off a thermo-
plastic tape drawn from the tape cassette.
For mounting the tape cassette of this invention
on the tape cassette mount, the tape cassette is in-
serted into a cassette receiving groove of the tape
cassette mount and, at the same time, the leading end ;
of the tape cassette is brought into engagement with
part of the tape cassette mount. At that time, the
lock member is projected outwardly from the tape guide
path of the tape guide part to engage part of the tape
cassette mount. Thus the tape cassette can be mounted
in a single snap action.
For removing the tape cassette from the tape
cassette mount, when the operation lever is pulled
toward the operator, then the lock member resiliently
resting on the cam surface of the front end of the ; -~
lever is raised against the resilience to retract its
engaging portion into the tape guide path of the tape
guide part, releasing the locking engagement with the
tape support base.
If the tape cassette having such function is
used in the automatic thermoplastic tape attaching ap~
paratus of the invention, a plurality of tape cassette
prepared on the tape cassette support base according
to predetermined production planning are mounted on
the respective tape cassette mounts. This mounting
~ocedure is as described above.
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Then, the support base drive is activated by an
instruction from a control means to move the tape
cassette so that the tape cassette containing a
thermoplastic tape to be attached will be positioned
in the traveling path of tape in the attachlng position.
At that time, the positioning means is activated to
lock the tape cassette support base in the position.
Now, as the upper and lower feed rollers come into
contact with the reinforcing thermoplastic tape being -
guided on the exposed surfaces of the front and back
pressure rollers of the tape cassette and start driven
rotation to feed the thermoplastic tape forwardly by a
predetermined length.
At this time point, the continuous strip travel- -
ing across in front of the tape cassette support base
is stopping with the tape piece attaching portion
reached in front of the tape cassette. At that time,
the leading end portion of the thermoplastic tape is
guided by the tape guide member so that its end is
gripped by the gripper situated in front of the tape
cassette support base. Subsequently, the gripper with
the leading end of the thermoplastic tape gripped
thereby is moved by a predetermined distance to bring
the thermoplastic tape into contact with each of front
and back surfaces of the tape piece attaching portion
of the strip, whereupon the cutter is activated to
cut transver~ely the leading end portion of the tape.
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Then, the tape piecs fusing means i8 moved
toward the tape to bring the leading end portion of
the thermoplastic tape against the attaching portion
of the strip and fuses them together, and cut the
thermoplastic tape by a length corresponding to the
width of the strip. Upon termination of cutting of
the thermoplastic tape, the gripper releases the
leading end portion of the thermoplastic tape. Simul~
taneously with the cutting, the feed rollers make only
a predetermined number of reverse rotations to bring
the cut end of the $hermoplastic tape back to the
throat or f}ont end portion of the tape guide part,
whereupon the feed rollers are moved apart from the
tape cassette.
Upon completion of the first attaching process
for a desired length of strip as the foregoing opera~
tion for the same tape cassette is repeated a ~ ~-
predetermined number of times, the support base drive
and the positioning means are activated again by an
instruction from the control means to move the tape
cassette support base and, at the same time, to move
the tape cassette containing the thermoplastic tape to
be attached for the next, to the attaching portion in
the traveling path of tape, thereby fixedly holding
the tape cassette there. Then, the attaching process
for the tape pieces to a predetermined length of the ~ -~
second strip takes place automatically as the forego~
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ing operation is repeated.
When the tape reel of part of the tape cassettes
is emptied as the attaching process progresses, only
the tape cassette is removed from the tape cassette
support base for exchange with a new one. This cas-
sette exchange can be performed by a simple operation,
i.e., by only pulling the actuation lever of the tape -
cassette toward the operator.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view, with
parts broken away, of an apparatus, for automatically
attaching reinforcing tape pieces to a slide fastenar
chain, according to a typical embo~i -nt of this in-
vention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view, partially in
cross section, of the main components of the appara-
tus:
FIG. 3 is a schematic view, with parts broken
away, of a tape cassette mounting and removing ?ch~n-
ism, illustrating the mounting function;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the mounting and
removing mechanism, illustrating the removing func-
tion; and
FIG. 5 is a front view, with parts broken away,
of a support base drive and a support base positioning
means, as an example, of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
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An embodiment of this invention will now be de-
scribed with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view, with parts broken away,
of the main part of an automatic heat-fusible tape
piece attaching apparatus applied to a slide fastener
chain manufacturing machine according to a typical em~
bodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged
cross-sectional view of FIG. 1. ~he re -;n;ng com- -~ ~-
ponents other than those shown in these views are de-
scribed in detail in the above-mentioned publications,
so their detailed description is omitted here for
clarity.
As shown in FIG. 1, the main components of this
invention is a thermoplastic tape supply part. The
tape supply part includes a tape cassette 1 with a
reel support part 11 and a tape guide part 12, a tape
cassette support base 2 for supporting a plurality of
tape cassettes 1 in row and for moving a desired tape
ca~sette 1 to position it in alignment with a thermo~
plastic tape attaching portion, and a tape piece fusing
means 3 to be located in the travelling path of a slide
fastener chain at a predetermined position within a
range of movement of the tape cassette support base 2.
In order that the reinforcing tape pieces Tc are
attached to front and back surfaces of the slide
fastener chain S at a position near the space portion,
the tape cassette 1 of the illustrated embodiment has
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a generally T-shape contour. A reel support part 11
has a bracket (not shown) supporting a set of upper
and lower reels 13, and a tape guide part li horizon-
tally extending forwardly (rightwardly in FIG. 2) from
the center of the bracket.
The non-illustrated bracket of the reel support
part 11 has a pair of cantilevered shafts 14 on which
the upper and lower tape reels 13 are detachably and
rotatably mounted and which is equipped with a known
removing and mounting mech~ni . ~he tape guide part
12 is in the form of a square pillar; the back half
portion 15 (leftside in FIG. 2) has a through hole 15a
of rectangular cross section ext~n~ing centrally and
longitudinally, while the front half portion 16
(rightside in FIG. 2) is in the form of a generally
square tube having a hollow 16a of rectangular cross
section. The tape guide part 12 has a front end por-
tion constituting a throat 17 having upper and ~ower
tape passageways 17a.
The tape guide part 12 has upper and lower guide
levers 18 projecting substantially centrally from the
back half portion 15 in opposite directions, each
guide lever 18 having a pair of guide pins 18a. On the
front side (rightside in FIG. 2) of the back half por-
tion 15, upper and lower guide rollers 19 and upper
and lower tape return preventing members 20 are ;~
situated in order along the traveling path of tape.
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Each tape return preventing member 20 is of an L shape
as shown in FIG. 2 and has a claw, at a front end in
the direction of travel of the thermoplastic tape T,
confronting the tape surface; the tape return prevent~
ing member 20 is vertically pivotable about the center
of the L shape. In the back half portion of the tape
guide part 12, two heat-fusible tapes T drawn from the
tape cassette 1 are guided each between the guide pin
pair 18a and pass respectively between the upper guide
roller 19 and the upper surface of the back half por- -~
tion 15 and between the lower guide roller 19 and the
lower surface of the back half portion 15. Downstream
of the guide rollers 19, the tape return preventing
members 20 in their tape return preventing position
press the two tapes T against the upper and lower sur-
faces, respectively, of the back half portion 15. When
the tape return preventing - ers 20 are released out
of the tape return preventing position, the tapes T :.
can be freely moved between the upper tape return pre-
venting member 20 and the upper surface of the back
half portion 15 and between the lower tape return pre- :
venting member 20 and the lower surface of the back
half portion 15. ! '
In the space 16a of rectangular cross section in
the front half portion 16 except the throat 17 of the
front end portion of the tape guide part 12, a support
base holding and releasing -chAn;- 21, and a pair of .:~
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pressure rollers 22a, 22b are situated in order from
the back side to the front side. Two walls are
situated over the back and front pressure rollers 22a,
22b, respectively, and each wall has a cutout through
which part of the respective pressure roller 22a, 22b
is exposed to outside. The pressure rollers 22a, 22b
are rotatably mounted on the respective horizontal
shafts in the space 16a.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show the support base holding and
releasing mechanism 21 in operative position. The sup-
port base holding and releasing mechanism 21, as shown
in FIGS. 3 and 4, has at a lower portion of the front
end a locking claw 23a engageable with part of the
tape cassette support base 2 and at an upper portion
of the front end a lock - 'er 23 having a cam contact
23b. The back end portion of the lock member 23 i8
pivotally supported in the space 16a so that its front
end is pivotally movable vertically. For this purpose,
the lower wall of the front half portion 16 has an ~ -
opening at a position under the lock member 23. A com~
pression spring 23c is mounted between the front end
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of the lock member 23 and the upper wall of the front
half portion 16 to urge the front end of the lock mem~
ber 23 to pivotally move normally downwardly.
Further, the support base holding and releasing -~
mechanism 21 has an operation lever 24 for the lock ;
member 23. The oepration lever 24 ha~ at its back end a
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right-angled operating end portion 24a as shown in ~ :
FIGS. 2 to 4 and on the upper surface of its front end ~:
a cam surface 24b on which the cam contact 23 of the
lock member 23 resiliently rests. The operation lever
24, with its front end directed forwardly, is inserted
into the through hole 15a extending centrally through
the back half portion 15 and is positioned in such a
manner that the cam contact 23b resiliently rests on
the cam surface 24b. With this arrangement, as the
operation lever 24 is moved forwardly and backwardly,
the cam contact 23b moves upwardly and downwardly ~ -~
within the space 16 so that the locking claw 23a of
the lock member 23 is pro~ected from and retracted
into the lower surface of the front half portion 16. -
The throat 17 or the front end solid portion of
the tape guide part 12 has upper and lower tape pas~
sageways 17a which open to the front end of the
throat 17. The throat 17 has in the front portion of
its lower surface an engaging groove 17b in which a :
below-described tape cassett- locking member 2g of the ; :~
tape cassette support base 2 engages.
The tape cassette l of the above-mentioned con-
struction can be applied not only to the apparatus f!or
attaching the reinforcing tape pieces Tc to the space
portions of a slide fastener chain S like the il-
lustrated example, but also to an apparatus for at-
taching markers in the form of tape pieces to woven
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fabrics for usual inventory purposes. It also may be
used in, for example, production of a fastener tape or
a supply means for a tape-like article such as a sur-
face fastener or a ribbon tape.
The tape cassette support base 2, which is one
of the components of this invention, will now be de-
scribed in detail in connection with the illustrated
example. The cassette support base 2 is in the form of
a rectangular frame composed of two column blocks 2a,
2b connected by two connecting members 2c with a
predete~ ined distance. The cassette support base 2 is
situated and movable reciprocatingly alongside the
traveling path of the slide fastener chain S as it ~ :
is being positioned in a predetermined position ;~
parallel to the chain S. For this pu.~ose, the tape
cassette support base 2 is slidably supported on
two guide rails 25a ~up~Gl ted by a frame 25 and is ~-
restrictedly moved along the guide rails 25a by a
below-described drive means to thereby be positioned
in a predetermined position. On the upper surface of
the tape cassette support base 2, there are formed a
plurality of gutter-shape tape cassette mounts 2d
for receiving a plurality of tape cassette 1 at
predetermined distances, the tape cassette 1 being
arranged perpendicularly to the traveling path of
the slide fastener chain S.
Accordlng to the illustrated ~Y-~Ie, in the
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lower surface of the back block 2a of the tape cas-
sette support base 2, there are formed a plurality of
locking holes 2e, in which a drive pin ~6c of a below-
described support base drive 26 is engageable, at a
predetermined pitch in the longitudinal direction, the
number of the locking holes 2e being equal to that of
the tape cassettes. Further, in the lower surface of
the front block 2b, there are formed a plurality of
engaging holes 2f, in which a positioning pin 28a of a
below-described positioning means 28 is engageable, at
the same pitch as the locking holes 2e, the number of
the engaging holes 2f being equal to that of the lock-
ing holes 2e. To the front edge of each tape cassette
mount 2d of the front block 2b, a generally C-shape
tape cassette locking - '~r 2g is fastened by a ~crew
with its one arm projecting upwardly.
For mounting the tape cassette 1 on the tape -
cassette support base 2, the tape cassette 1 is fitted
in the generally ~-shape tape cassette mount 2d of the
tape cassette support base 2 and, at the same time, 2
the tape cassette locking member 2g attached to the ;~
front edge of the front block 2b is brought into lock- ~;~
ing engagement with the locking groove 17b formed in -~
the front end of the throat 17 of the tape cassette 1.
At that time, the lockinq claw 23a of the locking mem-
ber 23 is projected downwardly from the space 16a of ;~
the tape guide part 12 under the resilience of the ~
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compression spring 23c to engage the upper edge of the
back block 2a. Therefore, the mounting of the tape
cassette 1 can be performed in a simple snap action.
For removing the tape cassette 1 from the tape
cassette support base 2, when the operating end por-
tion 24a of the operation lever 24 is gripped to pull
the lever 24 toward the operator, then the cam contact
23b of the lock memher 23 resiliently resting on the ;
cam surface 24b of the front end portion of the lever
24 is raised against the resilience as shown in FIG. 4
to retract the locking claw 23a of the lock member 23
into the space 16a of the tape guide part 12, thus
releasing the engagement with the tape support base 2
so that the tape cassette 1 can be removed simply.
In FIG. 2, the tape cassette 1 is mounted on the
tape cassette support base 2, and upper and lower feed
rollers 29, 30 are situated right above the back pres-
sure roller 22a and right under the front pressure
roller 22b, respectively, of the tape cassette 1 in
the traveling paths of the thermoplastic tapes T. The
feed rollers 29, 30 are operatively connected with
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drive motors 29a, 30a for driven rotation in syn-
chronism. The upper and lower feed rollers 29, 30 to- ~;
gether with the drive motors 29a, 30a are supported
respectively by cylinders 33, 34 mounted on upper and
lower frames 31, 32. As the cylinders 33, 34 are ac-
tivated, the feed rollers 29, 30 are brought into con-
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210~
tact with the respective exposed surfaces of the back
and front pressure rollers 22a, 22b to rotate the
pressure rollers 22a, 22b when feeding the tapes. When
stopping the tapes, the feed rollers 29, 30 are moved
apart from the exposed surfaces of the pressure rol-
lers 22a, 22b and are stopped rotating.
Under the back block 2a of the tape cassette
support base 2, a support base drive 26 is fixedly
mounted on the upper surface of the base 35 via a
suitable support means. The support base drive 26 in-
cludes a support base drive cylinder 26a and a drive
pin actuating cylinder 26b as shown in FIGS. l, 2 and
5. The drive pin actuating cylinder 26b i5 vertically -~
attached to the end of the rod of the horizontally
extending support base drive cylinder 26a. The drive
pin actuating cylinder 26b is an upwardly stretchable ;;~
one way actuating cylinder, and a drive pin 26c ver~
tically attached to the rod end is normally urged
downwardly by a compression spring 27 to shrink the
drive pin actuating cylinder 26b.
The driving of the tape cassette support base 2
by the support base drive 26 will now be described. As
air is drawn from the drive pin actuating cylinder 26b
when driving the tape cassette support base 2, the
drive pin 26c is disengaged from the locking hole 2e
formed in the lower surface of the back block 2a indi-
cated by phantom lines in FIG. 5, and then oil pres-
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sure in the rod stretching direction is charged into
the support base drive cylinder 26a to move the drive
pin 26c to a position right under the next locklng ~ -
hole 2e shown by phantom lines ln FIG. 5. Then air i~
charged into the drive pin catuating cylinder 26b to
stretch the drive pin 26c against the resilience of the'
compression spring 27 until the drive pin 26c comes into
engagement with the locking hole 2e right above it. After
that, oil pressure in the rod shrinking direction is
charged into the support base drive cylinder 26a to return
the drive pin 26c to the solid-line position so that the
back block 2a, namely, the tape cassette support base
2 is moved leftwardly in the drawing to the solid-line -
position. If reverse operation is performed, the tape
cassette support base 2 is moved rightwardly in the
drawing by one pitch of the locking hole 2e. -~ ;
As the result of the foregoing operations, the
tape cassette support base 2 is moved reciprocatingly - ~ -~
pitch by pitch of the locking hole 2e so that a desired
tape cassette 1 on the tape cassette support base 2
is moved to a predetermined position, where the tape
piece attaching portion is located, in the traveling
path of tape.
According to the automatic reinforcing tape
piece attaching apparatus of the illustrated embodi~
ment, upon every termination of movement of the tape
cassette support base 2 by the support base drive 26,
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the positioning means 28 is actuated to define the
support base position and to fix the support base 2 in
that position. The positioning means 28 is fixedly
mounted on the upper surface of the base 35 via a
suitable support means in confronting relationship
with the engaging hole 2f of the front block 2b. The
positioning means 28 i8 in the form of a cylinder 28b ~ ;
having a retracta~le locking pin 28a as shown in FIGS.
2 and 5. Each time the tape cassette support base 2 is
moved by one pitch by the support base drive 26, the
locking pin 28a is repeatedly projected from and
retracted into the cylinder 28b, and finally the lock~
ing pin 28a comes into locking engagement with the ~- -
corresponding engaging hole 2f of the front block 2b
that has stopped moving, thereby locking the tape cas-
sette support base 2 in that position. In the il~
lustrated example, the locking pin 28a of the
positioning means 28 is retractably pro~ected by the
actuation of the cylinder 28b. The inner surface of
the engaging hole 2f may be inclined, and the locking -
pin 28a may be normally urged upwardly by, for exam-
ple, a compression spring; in this case, the engaging
and disengaging of the locking pin 28a with respect !to
the engaging hole 2f can be performed easily.
The foregoing description concerns to the tape
cassette according to one ~ '~ nt of this invention
and to the main components of the automatic
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thermoplastic tape piece attaching apparatus of the
invention using that tape cassette. The automatic
thermoplastic tape piece attaching apparatus includes,
in addition to the above-mentioned components, a tape
piece fusing means 3, a cutter 5 and a gripper 4. But
the tape piece fusing means 3, the cutter 5 and the
gripper 4 are not peculiar to this invention and are
known in the prior art; as their details are disclosed
in the above-mentioned publications, only a simple
description of these additional components is made
here for clarity.
In this embodiment, the tape piece fusing means
3 includes an ultrasonic horn 3a and an anvil 3b and ~-
is situated at the crossing of the traveling path of
tape passing through the front and back feed rollers
29, 30 and the traveling path of a slide fastener
chain S to which the tape pieces Tc are to be at-
tached. According to the illustrated example, the cut-
ter 5 has cutting blades 5d, 5e vertically slidable on
the back surface (leftside in FIG. 2) of the tape '~
guide members 5a to 5c in the form of upper, central
and lower blocks. The gripper 4 is situated between
the ultrasonic horn 3a and the anvil 3b and is ac-
tuated, during the tape attaching, to hold a
predetermined length of the tape pieces Tc, which have ;
been cut off from the thermoplastic tape T, in a fixed
position of front and back surfaces of the slide
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fastener chain S. The gripper 4 is held in inoperative ;
position at all times except during the tape attach~
ing.
The attaching of the reinforcing tape pieces Tc
to a slide fastener chain S using the reinforcing tape
piece attaching apparatus will now be described. A -~
plurality of tape cassette l prepared on the tape cas-
sette support base 2 according to predetermined pro- .
duction planning are mounted on the respective tape
cassette mounts 2d. This mounting procedure is already .~
described above. ,
Then, the support base drive 26 is actuated, ac- .~
cording to the above-mentioned operation by an in- ~ .
struction from a non-illustrated control means, to ..
move the tape cassette support base 2 so that the tape . ~ :
cassette 1 containing the thermoplastic tapes T to be ~.
attached for the first is positioned at the a taching ~;
portion in the traveling paths of the tapes. At that time,
the locking pin 28a of the positioning means 28 comes
into locking engagement with the correspon~ing engaging
hole 2f formed in the front block 2b, thus holding the
tape cassette support base 2 in that position. The up~
per and lower feed rollers 29, 30 come into contact !
with the reinforcing thermoplastic tapes T being
guided on the respective exposed surfaces of the pres-
sure rollers 22a, 22b of the tape cassette 1 and
starts driven rotation to feed the thermoplastic tapes
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,
T forwardly by a predetermined length.
At this time point, the slide fastener chain S
traveling across in front of the tape _assette support
base 2 is stopping with the reinforcing tape pieae at~
:
taching portion reached in front of the tape cas~ette
1. At that time, the leading end portion of the
thermoplastic tape T is guided by the tape guide mem-
bers 5a to 5c so that its end is qripped by the grip-
per 4 situated in front of the tape cassette support
base. Subsequently, the gripper 4 is moved rightwardly
in FIG. 2 to bring the leading end portions of the re-
inforcing thermoplastic tapes T into contact with each
of front and back surfaces of the tape piece attaching
portion of the slide fastener chain S.
Then, the cutter 5 is actuated to cut the leading
end portion transversely off the tape T. And the ultra- ~
sonic horn 3a and the anvil 3b of the tape piece fusing ;
means 3 are moved toward eahc other to bring the leading
end portion of the thermoplastic tape T against the
attaching portion near the space of the slide fastener
chain S, whereupon the thermoplastic tape and the slide ' ~-
-
fastener chain are fused together by ultrasonic pro~
cess. Generally in this case, the tape attaching of
the tape piece fusing means 3 is performed only about
the core cord~ of the slide fastener chain S and, at
. :.., .:: :
the same time, the core cords of the tape attaching
portion are fused and separated. And the cut-off piece
of the thermoplastic tape is cut by a length corresponding - ;~
: ~ ~ -..,'~
- 22 - -~
, -, . .~
- - :. -: ,
": ~:
.: : ,~:
,.. , . . - ,, . ,.. ~ : : :
, . ., ,., ,,, , ~ ,
2 1 0 ~
to the width of the slide fastener chain S.
Upon termination of attaching the thermoplastic
tape T, the gripper 4 releases the cut piece Tc of the
thermoplastic tape T. Simultaneously with this cutting, '~
the feed rollers 29, 30 make a predetermined number of ~ :
reverse rotations to bring the cut end of the thermo- '
plastic tape T back to the front end position of the ~ ~-
throat 17 of the tape guide part 12, whereupon the feed ~
rollers 29, 30 are moved apart from the tape cas~ette 1. ~ -
At that time, the slide faStener chain S i8 moved ~-~
to a non-illustrated heating and fusing means, by which
the unattached region of the thermoplastic tape to be
attached is fused t~ the front and back surfaces of the
slide fastener chain S. Upon completion of the first
attaching process for a desired length of slide
fastener chain S as the foregoing operation for the
same tape cassette is repeated a predeteL ine~ number :
of times, the support base drive 26 and the position~
ing means 28 are activated again by an instruction
from the control means to move the tape cassette sup~
port base 2 and, at the same time, to move the tape
cassette 1 containing the thermoplastic tape T to be
attached for the next, to the attaching portion in the
traveling path of tape, thereby fixedly holding the
tape cassette 1 there. Then, the attaching process for ':-~
the tape pieces Tc to a predetermined length of the
second slide fastener chain S takes place automatical-
- 23 - ~ ~.
-" 2 .~ ~ 3 1 1 .~ : ~
ly as the foregoing operation is repeated.
When the tape reel 13 of part of the tape cas-
settes 1 is emptied as the attaching process prog-
resses, only the tape cassette l is removed from the
tape cassette support base 2 for exchanqe with a new
one. This cassette exchange can be performed by a
simple operation, i.e., by only pulling the operation
lever 24 of the tape cassette 1 toward the operator.
The tape cassette of this invention can be ap- -
plied to the apparatus for automatically attaching re-
inforcing tape pieces to a slide fastener chain like
the foregoing embodiment as well as to many other ap-
plications. For example, it may be used in an appara-
tus for attaching marks to cloths for inventory, a ;
surface fastener manufacturing machine as well as a
supply part of a ribbon tape processing machine, etc.
As is apparent from the foregoing description,
if the tape cassette of this invention is used in the
:- . . ~ .
supply part for a tape-like article, the tape together ~ -~
:::: ~ - .
with the cassette can be exchanged with a new one in a -
simple operation. Since the tape exchange can be per~
formed easily, it is possible not only to improve the
rate of production but also to cope with recent flexi- -
~le manufacturing.
Further, especially when the tape cassette of this
invention is applied to the automatic attaching machine
: :~ -
for the thermoplastic tape, the conventional lot organizing
- 24 ~
~ :~ :, .- .
. . :. .,.~.. . , .. . .; . . : -:
-' 21~9~4~
work will be completely unnecessary, and also there will
be no need of stopping the apparatus, thus it will be: :
possible to meet the customers' ~ -n~s sufficiently and ~ -
speedily.
